c/games · by nanoUFO@sh.itjust.works · 2y

Dead Cells designer says decision to stop updates is ‘asshole move’ by former studio

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/dead-cells-designer-says-decision-to-stop-updates-is-asshole-move-by-former-studio/

67 points · 10 comments · view on lemmy.world

10 Comments

tuckerm@supermeter.social · 24 pts · 2y (3 replies)

I'm not sure what kind of disagreement went on behind the scenes, but just as someone who enjoyed the game, this seems fine to me. Five years of post-release content is better than what you usually get, especially considering that they were all good updates and none were hasty cash grabs. The base game by itself was endlessly replayable, then they kept adding variety.

The article mentions the studio is a co-op; I was not aware of that before. From the studio's Wikipedia article:

Motion Twin is run as an anarcho-syndicalist workers cooperative with equal salary and decision-making power between its members.

WELL DAMN I already loved the game, now I love it all over again.

woelkchen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y

I’m not sure what kind of disagreement went on behind the scenes, but just as someone who enjoyed the game, this seems fine to me

Usually I'd agree but Motion Twin explicitly set up a dedicated studio, Evil Empire, to support Dead Cells for years to come while Motion Twin would move on to new games. It's not like it was intended that Evil Empire would work for free. The paid DLCs were/are successful.

GhostMatter@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Yeah, but that veneer is starting to chip for me... See this blog article from Sébastien Benard.

I don't know enough to judge the situation fully, but, from what I've heard, their co-op functioning isn't always easy to do. I do wish we had more co-op game studios to improve the model over time.

nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 2y

That's one of the few models that I see as promising. Likely not easy though. Have you worked with software engineers? It's like herding cats much of the time, even when I'm a peer position.

RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 2y (3 replies)

Sébastien Benard was a co-founder of Motion Twin and worked at the studio for 19 years, during which time he designed Dead Cells, its critically acclaimed 2018 Metroidvania game. He then left Motion Twin in March 2000 to set up a new studio.

So he's a time traveller? Motion Twin was founded in 2001, so...

MeepsTheBard@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 27 pts · 2y (2 replies)

2001 + 19 = 2020. Typos can be overcome using context clues.

RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 2y (1 reply)

It was funnier when he was a time traveller

MeepsTheBard@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 2y

Tru

Computerchairgeneral@kbin.social · 6 pts · 2y

Hard to say if he's right given how much of this is behind-the-scenes business dealing. I honestly didn't think much about them ending support for the game, since it had been so long since it was released. Still, announcing they were going to support the game until 2025 and then ending updates the same year their sequel game is supposed to launch isn't a great look. Especially since Evil Empire was still talking about continuing updates last year. Makes it seem like a sudden decision on Motion Twin's end. It's impossible to say for sure, but it really feels like they didn't want their old game serving as competition. Hopefully Evil Empire is able to recover and start work on their own project.

kawa@reddeet.com · 2 pts · 2y

Well, it's not a live service game sooo...